When it came to negotiating what might be in or out of scope for the palace's claims on his workshop's products, Knight-Master Lei was not nearly the diplomat Manager Doak might have been. He insisted both the clock-work and crystal charged designs for the unfolding paper flowers belonged to Junseo. "I don't care they are being used to map the dissonance around the palace. It was never their primary purpose," he expounded to Rainbow-maker Mein.

"Yet without the crystals the palace provided?"

"I would have gone round to my friends up on maker's lane if I needed to make more blossoms. It's not like I need many shards to make them work," Junseo interrupted before the two men repeated the argument from the day before. Knight-Master Lei muttered something about impudent trainees that gave the guards a good laugh before they bundled their charge back to the palace.

Rainbow-maker Mein felt pulled in different directions. His growing admiration for all the trainee's tempered with concern over just whom he may be training. Junseo's affinity remained illusive but his powers undeniable. The quiet Song-hee aligned his moonstones faster than anyone expected but Chenhui still lacked control over his rose quartz and his emotions. The eldest, San Jin, had very stable emerald connections but spent very little time in the forge. The youngest, In-Yeon, constantly guarded by the former monk or at least two of the other trainees, raised different questions. His report on boy's unusual firestone affinity was met with apathy by the palace brotherhood who expected the boy would eventually make his way back to a temple.

"You should pay more attention to your duties here in the palace especially with a member to welcome into the fold," the King's Rainbow-maker said.

"Did he get the blessing?" he looked around to see if he might spot the newcomer to their conclave.

"Kal Chul still waits below," the second in command admitted then looked away.

"I will be available as soon as the dragon accepts him. Otherwise, I continue on my prince's orders but I should warn you those include mapping the areas of dissonance." Until now he had avoided mentioning this particular sore point. Trying to resolve the damage from the war of succession had turned into a multi-generational duty for all the palace Rainbow-makers. Involving an outside group could be taken as affront to the King's authority.

"Oh, he is big for his breeches. Your prince I mean," the most senior member of their group chortled.

"I can't imagine the King will be pleased if they show up weaknesses in our defenses," another member half-whispered.

"No danger there. Remember our regular patrols," the older man beside him said in a voice clearly meant to be overheard.

Rainbow-maker Mein struggled to keep a straight face. He knew just how haphazard those patrols actually were, especially when they were fobbed off onto the most junior members. The journal entries were entirely laughable compared to the copious note-taking of the boys at the forge.

Reviewing those notes, and remembering the tensions between his master their guest instructor, had Junseo's stomach tied in knots. He felt an idea drifting out of reach but was stymied.

"I wish Hae-sung was here," Song-hee said from across the worktable. "I mean I know he won't be up to our usual regime but he is smart about this kind of thing." He pointed to the different samples of stones resting in front of him.

"He needs to come back," In-Yeon said looking into the distance. "I need to talk to him about his aunt."

"You could go visit him." Chenhui suggested.

"No. Too many ears at the palace." In-Yeon looked at Junseo. "It's time you asked the water-mother to favor a friend."

"I don't think it works like that," Junseo said glancing away.

"Why not? If Hae-sung's condition hurts your heart, why wouldn't she want to sooth?" Song-hee said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world and pushed Junseo toward the door.

Three days later Hae-sung returned to the forge in the Rainbow-maker's entourage. He was still pale and a bit weak but ready to take over note-taking duties. The laughter and jokes made the days pass quickly even though the team struggled with increasingly fine stone differentiations. Hae-sung's positive attitude also helped re-shape the interactions between Knight-Master Lei and the man from the palace.

While they had been experimenting with stones from different locations Junseo came up with a design for a kind of tuner to purify the secondary resonances. He first asked Song-hee to help with the new discernment process but it did not work well. He asked Hae-sung and got a similar outcome until he substituted in a citrine for the clear quartz in the assembly.

"Ah, it must be a relative not pure harmonic," he said while tinkering a bit more.

"What do you have there?" Rainbow-maker Mein hurried over to where the boys had huddled around.

"So far just an experiment," Junseo looked around for his mentor. Knight-Master Lei indicated he should continue with the demonstration. Junseo blushed and stuttered his way through a general explanation of the reasoning behind his device before re-setting it with a moonstone and asking Song-hee to test the next sample. Rainbow-maker Mein handed over a couple of different pieces and gestured for Hae-sung to note the results.

"Extraordinary," the man said after four different samples, "Eighty percent on a first run, without fully tuned stones. That is better than any other method we have tried." He put out his hand for the device.

"It's not really going to tell us about the disruptions, though is it." Junseo said.

"Don't rule it out. We have always suspected northern or maybe even Qin stones contributed to the explosions and this might help us trace them back to their source." Rainbow-maker Mein held the piece close.

"I'm not sure this piece falls under the commission but even if it does you can't take the prototype away. Let the boys try to refine it and we will give you two working models by the end of the week." Knight-Master Lei held out his hand for the piece.

The Rainbow-maker started to bristle but one glance at the boys helped him relax. "Thank you. This will undoubtable help us trace the detonator fragments we picked up at the championships," he said.

Junseo swallowed hard, before asking, "Not more progress on the case, then?"

"Theories in abundance. Rumors everywhere one turns, but no hard evidence. But don't worry, just because my guards are the most visible doesn't mean the prince isn't looking out for you." The man waved to his usual company.

The boys all looked at each other and shrugged. "I don't think the flash bombs were intended to cause much damage. They went off after most of the crowds had dissipated so they seem more about proving it was possible. Thumbing their noses at the officials if you will." Junseo offered his thoughts respectfully.

"Yes, that is an increasingly popular theory unfortunately it doesn't narrow the field much. It could anyone from arch-conservatives, loyal reformers like the crew with the Broken Wheel, a rebel hang-over from Lord Sung-Gyu and his sorry lot, or even external actors."

"It was just a distraction. They need to look west," In-Yeon whispered to San Jin.

"Your sure?" San Jin asked then shook his head. "No, of course you are," he said before relaying this intelligence. In-Yeon blushed and tried to hide behind the older members.

"Interesting, the Prince's seer said much the same but only in whispers." The men nodded to each other.

"Maybe, I should write my aunt," Hae-sung muttered to himself.

"Could you? A letter of introduction for me and Brother Kuin." In-Yeon asked but then started to stammer. "We will need to ask for the leave first, of course."

San Jin put his hand on the trembling narrow shoulder in front of him. "Slow down. Let's see to our guest first."

"Yes, then we will have a proper team meeting," Junseo's voice was level but it was clear by his expression he was very serious. Their gathering provided the first opportunity to hear about the incident at the races from Hae-sung's perspective. He aimed to fully exonerate Song-hee but ended up setting San Jin off again. The tensions only increased with In-Yeon's determination to leave for the Temple of the Dawn at the earliest opportunity.

"I know you dream true but are you certain the Temple needs you to be there? Wouldn't a warning for Hae-sung's aunt be enough?" Chenhui's question, seconded by nods all-round, could not get their youngest member to budge.

"No. The western front is key. Oh, and you need to re-connect with the Sun Temple. I know we can't trust the current master but we need more allies." In-Yeon's voice echoed with certainty.